Internal-combustion engine



Oct. 23 1923,

L. ATWOOD INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Aug. 2'7 1920 IPatentcd a. 23', 1923.

"PATENT, OFFICE.

Lnomnn a'rwoon, or nos'ron, massacnusms.

t .m'rnmmn-comnusnon ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, LEONARD A'rwoon, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improve- .inents in Internal-Combustion Engines, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention 'relates to internal combustion engines es ecially designed for actuation by heavy uel oils. It has-for its ob jectsthe effecting of improved means for cooling the piston, fordelivering the fuel oil to the cylinder, for reversing the engine,

and for improving its general details of construction.

The drawing forming fication shows in elevation, largely sectional, an'engine embodying my improvements.

The piston in this engine ig a chamberedcylinder 1 having a shoulder 2' and an elongated neck 3, both the neckiand. shoulder being tubular. The piston-is slidable in the cylinder '6 and also through theffiange 7 whose annular shoulder 9 is attached to and.

supports the cylinder 6, this shoulder providing an annular space 10 into which the exhaust is designed to discharge, and to Q be conducted therefrom'through an exhaust pipe 11.

The upper end of the cylinder 6 is closed by a head 12 which is provided with a depressed central portion 13 as hereinafter set forth.

The lower-portion of the neck 3 fits-liquid tight in a pump cylinder 14 whose bottom.

end is provided with an intakeport 15 and anoutlet port 17, the port 15 being supplied with water through a pipe 19, and the outlet 17 discharging through a pipe 20. As the plunger-neck 3 reoiprocates within 'the cylinder 14 with the actionof the piston 1, the water within the cylinder 14 will be alternately forced u into the chamber 5 and withdrawn therefrom through the opening or channel 4. To provide a circulation of fresh water, a pipe 21 is connected at its lower'end with the intake port 15, and its upper end opens intothe chamber 5. Now

when the piston rises, water will be admitted from the port 15 into the chamber 5 to take the place of that descending through the channel4; and when the,piston moves part of this speci-.

downward, the'chamber 5 being already Application ma August 27, 1920; Serial No. 406,329. g

a111, water below at plunger 3 will be forced out through the exit valve 17. In this way, a circulation will be maintained to and from the iston chamber which will effectually keep t clatter at a suitably low. temperature to prevent it from burning the lubricating oilsupplied to its outer surface.

The piston, although not itself provided with packing rings, is prevented from'leaksv age by means of three packin rings 22, 23 seated 'in the lower end of t e cylinder 6 with a ba'ckin ring 24 behind them preferably compose of brass, and held inplace by an annulus 25 beneath them. Thering 23 is formed with an annular groove 26 into which fuel oil is fed through a hole 27 in the ring 24 from the receptacle 29. By

means of 1 compressed air within the receptacle, maintained by any suitable means, as

times exceptduring the upward movement of the piston, the reservoir 29 is provided with a valve 33 periodically shutting of the accession of oil to the pipe 32'by means of an elongated stem 34' pressed down upon his seat by a spring 35, the lower end of the stem resting in a cup 36. The cup is held 'from'horizontal' displacement by an arm 37 pivoted at 39 to the engine frame, but is given an upward thrust by the cam-arm 40 upon which it rests. The latter is in its turn supported upon the periphery of the disk 41 having a projection 42 projecting from its face, this disc revolving in .unison with the drive shaft 43. During a certain period of its revolution, which-accords with .theupward movement of the piston, the

projection 42 engages the under edge of the cam-arm 40 and elevates it sufliciently to open the valve 33, and .to hold ,the same open until the. projection 42 has moved through approximately a quadrant and reaches the end 44 of the are 45. this point the cam-arm. 40 drops and permits the closure .of the valve 33: therebyglterminating the feeding of oilto the cylinder.

As illustrated, the cam-arm 40 is posi-;v

tioned for the rotation of the drive shaft in the direction of the arrows shown. For feed ,ing oil to the engine to run in the opposite direction, the cam-arm 40 is pivoted to a lever 46 which, being swung over toward the right, presents the portion 47 of the camarm to the' action of the projection 42 and consequently causes oil to be fed only during the upward stroke of'the piston when the drive shaft is reversed in its direction, suitable locking means as 19 being provided for retaining the lever 46 in its set positions.

' T 0 protect the packing rings 22, 23 against the action of the hot exhaust, the cylindrical wall of the piston 1 is prolonged to a height sufficient. to shield these rings when the piston is in its lowermostposition, but, as this will also close the discharge of the exhaust to the annular space 10, this prolonged wall I 50 is pierced with numerous openings 51 suflicient in number, and located to permitthe escape of the exhaust.

This construction serves in addition, two

other functions, one being to keep the pack ig rings from injury by the blow of the piston-end were there no such prolongation, and the other being that of receiving an conveying into the upper section of the cylinder 6 a correspondingly increased area of oil-film deposited thereon from between the packing rings 22,23.

The purpose of the centrally depressed portion 13 of the cylinder head 12 is to substantially fill the space within the prolongation 50 during compression.

The combustion cylinder 6 is made a sufficiently loose fit for the piston to permit the oil-film on the latter to be volatilized by the heat .of the cylinder and to pass t 40 the space above the piston.

Compressed air is admitted to the annular space 10 at the moment the openings 51 descend thereto, both for aiding in the scav enging of the cylinder and for supplying the oxygen required for the proper combustion of the fuel oil. The air may be taken from the pipe 32 running from the air pump 30 tothe reservoir 29, through, a connection 53 closed by a valve 54 controlled by a-ba-r 55 attached to the member 56 which carries the piston 31.

The operation of this engine is as follows: As the piston rises from the bottom end of its stroke, it carries up with it cling- 55 ing toits peripheral surface a thin film of fuel oil delivered thereto from between the rings 22, 23, together with the air received from the pipe 32"; This film of oil quickly 'vaporizes under the influence of the heat of 60 the cylinder 6 and is absorbed by the air, both being compressed to the degree required by the time the piston reaches the end of its up-stroke, which is afraction of an inch below the depressed portion 13 of the cylinw der-head. Then as the crank passes its upper ways employed in either four-cycle or two cycle engines, the piston rises again, it carries with it the oil-film and air in the manner above described, the valve 33 lifting and 'fuel oil being forced to the annular groove 26 and between the packing rings 22, 23 into contact with the-periphery of the piston. While thus rising, the water in the piston-chamber is partially withdrawn, causing a fresh supply to enter therein through the pipe 21, the descent of the piston having forced the water below it to escape through the exit 17 Lubricating oil may be supplied from a reservoir 62 connected with the interior of the cylinder 6 by a tube 63.

Thus constructed, this engine will volad tilize and burn any kind of fuel oil except those of low flash point such as gasoline, but all theheavy oils can be used with efiiciency and great economy. The essential element of this engine is its process of producing an extensive area of oil-film and introducing the same into close proximity of a heated surface and thereby volatilizing the oil, no matter how heavy it may be. Another im portant feature is that of enabling the feed ing of the oil to be reversed to accommodate the reversed engine, so that the engine cannot be accidentally run backward; in case the engine were reversed without shifting the lever 16, the oil would be fed during the down stroke of the piston and its vapor would escape through the exhaust manifold, and none would be supplied for the up stroke.

I prefer to provide two pitmen 57 between v the piston and crank pin 59, but ll show only one of the two in, the drawings, this one being pivotally attached at 60 to the ring 61 which is clamped about the shoulder Inasmuch as the operative energy of the piston is always adownward thrust upon this collar and pitman, and the fly-wheel inertia always gives an upward thrust against this collar and piston, there is no need for a more secure attachment of the collar or ring 61 than that illustrated.

What I claim is:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston reciprocative therein, the diameter of said piston being less than that of the cylinder to provide aslight annular space between them, means carried by the cylinder for packing its open end to prevent the escape of the charge past the in cylinder and reciprocative therein, packing rlngs carriedby said cylinder in contact with the periphery of said. piston, and means for supplying fuel oil to percolate between said rings into viscous engagementwith said piston.

4. An internal combustion engine comprising a'cylinder, a piston loosely fitting said cylinder and reciprocative therein, packing rings carried by said cylinder in contact with said piston, one of said rings having a groove extending throughout its periphery,-

and means for supplying fuel oil to said groove.

5. Anintcrnal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston loosely fitting said cylinder and reciprocative therein, packing rings carried by said cylinder in contact with said -pi'ston, an annular groove being provided between the periphery of certain of said rings and the cylinder, and means for supplying fuel oil under pressure to said groove.

6. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston-loosely fitting said cylinder and reciprocative therein, packing rings carried by said cylinder at its lower end in contact with said piston, and means for feeding oil to said rings to pass between them into contact with said piston.

7. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston loosely fitting said cylinder and reciprocative therein, packing rings carried by the cylinder in contact with said piston, and a backing ring of soft metal between the peripheries of said packing rings and the cylinder.

8. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, apiston loosely fitting said cylinder "and reciprocative therein, an annular seat being formed in the lower end of said cylinder, packing rings located in said seat in contact with said piston, and a flange attached to the under end of said cylinder for keeping said packing rings in place.

9. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston loosely. fitting said cylinder and reciprocative therein, an annular seat being formed in the lower end of said cylinder, packing rings located in said compris seat in contact with said piston, a soft metal backing ring between the peripheries of said packing rings and said seat, and a flange attached to the under end of said cylinder for retaining said rings in place.

An internal combustion engine comprismg a cylinder, a piston reciprocative therein, .a drive shaft operatively connected with said piston, a closed reservoir, valvecontrolled means for delivering fuel oil from said reservoir-to said cylinder, and means moving synchronously with said drive shaft for opening said valve during the up-stroke of the piston, the same being shiftable for thus opening the valve in either direction of the shafts rotation.

11. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston reciprocative therein, a drive shaft operatively connected with said piston, a reservoir for fuel oil, a valve-controlled means for delivering oil from said reservoir to said cylinder, a disk rotating synchronously with. said shaft, a cam-arm concave downwardly riding on the periphery of said disk, means connecting said cam-arm and valve whereby the elevation of the cam-arm opens said valve, and a-projection carried by said disk to engage the cam arm, and toelevate it during the upstroke of the piston.

12. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder, a piston reciprocative therein, a drive shaft operatively connected with said piston, a reservoir for fuel oil, a valve-controlled means for delivering oil from said reservoir to said cylinder, a disk rotating synchronously with said shaft, a cam-arm pivotally supported at one end, means for horizontally shifting this pivotal end, the free portion of the cam-arm being concave downward and riding upon the periphery of said disk, 'a projection from said disk for periodic engagement with said camarm for its elevation, and connection between said cam-arm and valve for opening the latter when the. cam-arm is elevated.

An internal combustion engine comprislng1 a cylinder having a centrally depresse head and an exhaust passage at its lower end a cylindrical piston loosely fitting said cylinder, packing rings carried by said cylinder in contact with said piston, said rings being close above the lower end-of said cylinder, and means for delivering fuel oil into said cylinderr close above certain of said rings, said piston having an apertured wall rising therefrom to cover said. rings when the piston is at its lowermost point.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invent-ion, I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of, August, 1920.

LEONARD ATWOOD. 

